Episode 71: Disappearing Acts
Original Air Date: October 25, 2002
Teleplay by Judith McCreary
,
directed by Alex Zakrzewski
Additional Cast:
Pam Grier (Claudia Williams), Michael Kelly (Mark), Joe Maruzzo (Joe Tucci), John Heard (Peter Sipes), Thomas Guiry (Gavin Sipes), Caprice Benedetti (Amanda Curry), Grigory Gurevich (Sergei Perlman), John Henry Redwood (Judge Ernest Volpe), Barbara McCulloh (Lynn Moody), Michael Bolus (Michael Kerring)
Reviewing the Case:
This is about as close to a classic police procedural as any
SVU
episode gets. The rape of an unscrupulous corporate executive leads to a man with ties to the Russian mob and his troubled son. The detectives lock horns with Claudia Williams, a U.S. Attorney. Benson and Stabler find their careers on the line from simply trying to do their jobs.
Noteworthy Discoveries:
Stabler earns $68,940 a year. While being held by the Feds for seventy-two hours without access to a lawyer, he’s told this previously illegal time frame is “fallout from 9/11.”
Relevant Testimony:
“Every federal agency is under the umbrella of Homeland Security and none of them like to share information with local cops. And it’s a numbers game for funding. They don’t give a damn about getting drugs off the streets; they just want the money. . . . There are no more cartels. They operate now like terror cells—independent, nobody knows anybody else. But the Russian mob is still around.”—Judith McCreary
Episode 72: Angels
Original Air Date: November 1, 2002
Teleplay by Jonathan Greene and Robert Campbell
,
directed by Arthur W. Forney
Additional Cast:
Will Arnett (Tony Damon), Michael Hayden (Dr. Walt Massey), Pablo Santos (Ernesto Diaz), Kate Skinner (Laura Massey), Glenn Fleshler (Dr. Noah Kamon), Mike Hodge (Port Authority Supervisor), Gideon Jacobs (Shawn Massey), Patrick Cassidy (Dr. Stewart Lynch)
Reviewing the Case:
When the body of an abused Hispanic boy is discovered in the luggage compartment of a bus, his good dental work provides an important clue. The apprehension of his Guatemalan friend leads detectives to the dead Wall Street lawyer who kept both kids locked up as sex slaves. His death, in turn, points to an extensive pedophile ring aided by a sleazy travel agent specializing in Central American sex tours.
Noteworthy Discoveries:
“They operate in cells, like Al-Qaeda,” Munch says of the well-organized pedophiles. He poses as a tourist with prurient interests.
Relevant Testimony:
“God bless that child actor (Pablo Santos). He died in a plane crash in Mexico a few years later.”—Arthur Forney
Episode 73: Dolls
Original Air Date
:
November 8, 2002
Teleplay by Amanda Green
,
directed by Darnell Martin
Additional Cast:
Gloria Reuben (Violet Tremain), David Harbour (Terry Jessup), Barbara Andres (Eleanor Marshall), Ileen Getz (Mrs. Preston), Geoffrey Owens (Forensic Anthropologist), Cynthia Mace (Community Center Director), Susan Misner (Ronnie Marshall), Conan McCarty (Mike Flecker), Frank Medrano (Jake), Capathia Jenkins (Thelma Price), Michael Alexis Palmer (Peter Jackson), Ron Lee Jones (Rev. Allastair)
Reviewing the Case:
A decomposing victim, dead for about eight weeks, is dubbed “Cherish Doe.” A publicized forensic anthropologist’s reconstruction of her face brings no tips, however. But a suspect named Violet, in rehab when her little daughter Nina disappeared, works with detectives to find what may be a serial pedophile. In the care of an elderly neighbor who died, Nina slipped through the cracks thanks to a negligent caseworker in an overwhelmed system. The perp, a man damaged by the demons of his own awful childhood, continues the circle of misery.
Relevant Testimony:
“Part of that episode was based on a real tragic case out of Kansas City. ‘Precious Doe’ was (unidentified) skeletal remains that had been found . . . At the time in Florida, overworked caseworkers never bothered to follow up on a little girl who was living with this very crazy foster mother. Sadly, years after we did that show, they identified Precious Doe and it was her mother and her mother’s boyfriend who killed her. And Florida overhauled its entire child welfare system after the case there.”—Amanda Green
Episode 74: Waste
Original Air Date
:
November 15, 2002
Teleplay by Dawn DeNoon and Lisa Marie Petersen
,
directed by Donna Deitch
Additional Cast:
Philip Bosco (Davis Langley), Bruce Davison (Dr. Mandell), JoBeth Williams (Mrs. Rawley), Rainn Wilson (Baltzer
),
Jill Marie Lawrence (Cleo Conrad), David Lipman (Judge Arthur Cohen), Rob Bartlett (Milton Schoenfeld), Judy Gold (Forensic Gynecologist), Henry Woronicz (Rawley), Steve Key (Wesley Dilbert), Lisa Pelikan (Dr. Garrison), Ian Kahn (David Anderson)
Reviewing the Case:
Stephanie is pregnant, but has been left in a persistent vegetative state for the past year following a car accident. There are several suspects: Her fiancé, who often sneaks in the rehab center to visit her; her physician; a physical therapist; a janitor; and a mortician. But the surprising identity of the “father” taps into to a stirring debate about medical ethics, stem cell research, abortion, and the justice system’s many gray areas.
Noteworthy Discoveries:
Philip Bosco, a frequent guest star on the Mother Ship, shines as a man battling an incurable disease. Dr. Huang’s question to Cabot: “You mean I could go to jail for stealing a toaster but not a woman’s egg?”
Relevant Testimony:
“We won an Edgar for ‘Waste,’ and I left the award at the cocktail reception. I have it now. It’s not a pretty award, it’s a bust of Edgar Allan Poe, not a gorgeous man, but still I was happy to get it.”—Dawn DeNoon
Episode 75: Juvenile
Original Air Date
:
November 22, 2002
Teleplay by Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters
,
directed by Constantine Makris
Additional Cast:
Illeana Douglas (Gina Bernardo), William H. Burns (Narcotics Officer), Becky Ann Baker (Mrs. Brice), Shane E. Lyons (Jeremy Brice), Connor Paolo (Zachary Connor), Jonathan Walker (Connor), Richard Topol (Dr. Hayman), Lisa Emery (Mary Ellen Lesinski), Toby Poser (Mrs. Connor), Robert Turano (Alfonso Corrales), Alysia Reiner (Cindy Kerber), Kyle Gallner (Marc Lesinski), Tony DeVito (Vincent Paglione)
Reviewing the Case:
When ’tweens are involved in the rapemurder of a woman who runs a marijuana club for sick people, cops and prosecutors are stymied. At thirteen, one kid can legally be tried as an adult despite his extreme immaturity, while a twelve-year-old is probably a psychopath but only has to appear in family court. Complex legal maneuvers are unable to skirt a wrenching decision for everyone concerned.
Relevant Testimony:
“I have a real problem with trying juveniles as adults. Even if you sound like an adult, you’re a kid. . . . The idea for that episode came from Neal (Baer), who gave us a study and said, ‘Do something on this topic.’”—Michele Fazekas
Episode 76: Resilience
Original Air Date
:
December 6, 2002
Teleplay by Patrick Harbinson, directed by Joyce Chopra
Additional Cast:
Illeana Douglas (Gina Bernardo), Leslie Ayvazian (Judge Valdera), Jill Marie Lawrence (Cleo Conrad), Anna Berger (Karen’s Grandmother), Drew McVety (James Randall), Justine Caputo (Sally Landricks), Cynthia Ettinger (Angie Landricks), Rachael Bella (Jackie Landricks), Titus Welliver (Tom Landricks), Billy Lush (Karl Serrit)
Reviewing the Case:
After a distraught teenager tries to jump in front of a subway train, the detectives learn that the girl lives in a household from hell. She claims to have been kidnapped and raped by strangers, but the sexual abuse is far more twisted than that. Her seemingly normal parents may carry the notion of family love way beyond appropriate boundaries.
Noteworthy Discoveries:
Munch and Fin have the unenviable assignment of spying on a young man’s private parts while he stands at a urinal. In another of his always interesting psychiatric assessments, Dr. Huang describes a victim’s mental state: “Regression in service to the ego.” The episode takes its cues from the real-life case in England of Fred and Rosemary West.
Relevant Testimony:
“There had been thirteen years of serial killings of adolescent women, many of whom entered into sadomasochistic relationships with Fred and Rosemary West. Some of their children wrote books about it. I wondered: ‘How do you survive that?’ . . . Some inner strength sustained the kids through their horrible journey.”—Patrick Harbinson
Episode 77: Damaged
Original Air Date
:
January 10, 2003
Teleplay by Barbie Kligman
,
directed by Juan J. Campanella
Additional Cast:
Erik Palladino (Dave Deuthorn), Max Vogel (Dr. Daniel Foster), David Bryant (Curtis), Mark Kachersky (Arthur Campbell), Keira Naughton (Sarah), George L. Smith (John Marcum), Ned Eisenberg (Roger Kressler), Dan Lauria (Peter Kurtz), Michael Gaston (Malcolm Field), Ari Graynor (Missy Kurtz), Glynnis O’Connor (Raquel Kurtz), Christopher Denham (Joey Field)
Reviewing the Case:
An apparent video-store robbery goes bad when the masked thief kills innocent bystanders; the clerk then shoots him. Among the victims is six-year-old Rebecca, whose teenage stepsister seems genuinely distraught. But the little girl, on life-support, is a rape victim with gonorrhea. Who’s to blame—her father, the family doctor, someone at school? This episode could easily have been titled “The Bad Seed,” as it hurtles toward an unanticipated conclusion.
Episode 78: Risk
Original Air Date
:
January 17, 2003
Teleplay by Robert F. Campbell and Jonathan Greene
,
directed by Juan J. Campanella
Additional Cast:
Robert John Burke (Ed Tucker), Matt Mulhern (Brad Kendall), Joe Murphy (Keith Gerard), Bryan Callen (Derek Pfeiffer), Paul Diomede (Frank Barry), Erica Tazel (Lynn Hauser), Robert Funaro (Philly Panzaretti), Laurie J. Williams (Laura Pfeiffer), Katherine Cunningham Eves (Mother), Maria Elena Ramirez (Abby)
Reviewing the Case:
A few years before tainted products from China began showing up on the American market with regularity,
SVU
zeroed in on cocaine masquerading as baby food. But “Risk” is not actually about the dangers of globalization. Instead, the infant who dies from eating drug-laced formula alerts the squad to an international narcotics operation. Stabler goes undercover as a Wall Street-type to smoke out a bad cop involved with a smuggling ring that reaches into Mexico.
Noteworthy Discoveries:
Benson wears a low-cut black dress and Stabler, in wire-rim glasses, an expensive suit to pose as customers at a bar where the high-end drug trade flourishes.
Relevant Testimony:
“Baby formula comes with its own set of rules and regulations. . . . I think when we did this episode my daughter had just been born.”—Jonathan Greene
Episode 79: Rotten
Orignal Air Date
:
January 24, 2003
Teleplay by Judith McCreary, directed by Constantine Makris
Additional Cast:
William Mapother (Off. Luke Edmunds), Terry Serpico (Les Cooper), Peter Hermann (Trevor Langan), Joie Lee (Prison Nurse), Robert Stanton (P.B.A. Representative), Agustin Rodriguez (Hector Ramirez), Jason Catalano (Randall Grant), Gene Canfield (John Royce), Johnny Pruitt (Andrew Pennington), A.B. Lugo (Jose Ortega), Amy Landecker (Stephanie Grayson), Nathan A. Perez (Nathan Duarte), Jose Pablo Cantillo (“Willie” Angel)
Reviewing the Case:
Grisly jailhouse culture is briefly explored before “Rotten” takes to the streets to look at drug dealers, disgruntled prison guards, corrupt city cops, and prosecutorial schemes. When a lowlife dies in the Tombs after being sodomized, SVU detectives follow a trail of evidence that snakes around several potential scenarios for the murder. The high command hopes to close the case quickly, sweeping inconvenient facts under the rug, but Benson perseveres in finding the truth.
Noteworthy Discoveries:
This episode clearly takes inspiration from the 1997 attack on Abner Louima, a Haitian immigrant tortured by several Brooklyn police officers. Actor William Mapother, one of the creepy Others on ABC’s
Lost
, is Tom Cruise’s cousin. Joie Lee is director Spike Lee’s sister.